Will your family only eat trees and not broccoli butts? I’ve turned them into a soup that’s good for your guts. Cooked down with onion, garlic and broth - then blended with spinach to a smooth froth. I top mine with pepper and parmesan cheese. It’s super good for you and done in a breeze.

Green Detox Soup

Serves 4

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 cups broccoli butts, chopped

2 cups broth

3 cups spinach

salt to taste

In a large stock pot, cook together garlic, onion and broccoli butts until slightly browned. Add stock and bring to a boil. Cook 3-5 minutes until the broccoli butts are just tender. Season with salt. Pour into the blender and blend together with spinach. Eat immediately topped with fresh ground pepper.

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In our quest to eat healthier, breakfast has been the most challenging. For so many reasons. In the mornings we are usually scrambling over packing lunches, getting kids breakfast pulled together, and racing off to three different schools with three different start times. Adult breakfast has been mostly leftover dinner from the night before so we can get enough protein to not die in a work out. While Sesame Beef is delightful for dinner, it’s not my favorite breakfast.

Breakfasts have been my goal. And honestly, if I start my day off with a better breakfast I am so much more likely to eat better the rest of the day too. When I eat leftover eggs off the kids plates, the day goes a bit down hill from there.

Banana bread is a classic “quick breakfast” option - but it’s loaded with sugar. LOADED. Do you know how much sugar is in bananas? It’s absurd. Then most recipes include white sugar too. It’s too much for the morning. For my version, I eliminated cane sugar and hacked my baked oatmeal recipe to create a banana bread that’s literally a few ingredients - although I did sweeten it up with some maple syrup.

CLEAN BANANA BREAD

1 cup quick oats
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 ripe bananas
2 eggs 
1/4 cup maple syrup

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine oats, baking powder and baking soda.  

STEP 2

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine bananas, eggs, and maple syrup.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture.  Blend until just combined.  

STEP 3
Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake 40-45 minutes.  When the bread no longer 'jiggles' and a toothpick comes out totally clean, remove from the oven.  Let cool before serving.

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The only thing more challenging than eating clean and healthy on a regular day is eating clean on Thanksgiving! The aggressive amount of butter, cream, and white foods makes everything harder. There’s also a significant lack of green - and when there is green it’s usually soaked in the above mentioned butter, cream, and salt. Or some kind of canned soup.

Millet is an ancient grain filled with iron, B vitamins, and is naturally gluten free. It’s the perfect grain for Thanksgiving because of it’s mild corn flavor with a little bit of crunch. Paired with sautéed brussel sprouts and onions and the sweetness of craisins, millet becomes an unexpected side dish that’s actually healthy. Obviously a dash of parmesan cheese is needed.

STEP 1

Bring a very large pot of water to a boil.  There must be at least four cups of water in the pan – eight is ideal.  Pour in millet and cook 15 minutes until tender.  Strain and set aside.

STEP 2

Sauté onion and garlic together in a pan with 2 tbs olive oil until onions are softened.  Add shredded brussels sprouts and cook, stirring often until wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.  

STEP 3

Toss brussels sprouts mixture with cooked millet, craisins and parmesan cheese.  

1 ½ cups millet

2 tbs olive oil

2 cl garlic

1 onion, sliced

1 lb Brussels sprouts

½ cup parmesan cheese

1 cup craisins

Because I know there will be questions:

Q: Why millet? Can I use something else?

Millet is great because it’s gluten free, petite, and has a tiny bit of crunch. You can substitute quinoa or barley. If you use quinoa, combine 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water in a microwaveable bowl. Cover and microwave five minutes. Fluff with a fork then resume the recipe from step 2. You can also use orzo if you’re looking for a pasta substitute.

Q: Brussel Sprouts are the worst! What else can I use??

Brussel sprouts are the worst when they are cooked wrong. These are sautéed and cooked with garlic and onions which make them delicious. It’s a similar to the flavor of cauliflower which everyone is loving right now so I say, give it a try.

Q: If I’m dairy free can I skip the parmesan?

Of course! There are several vegan options that you can swap out parmesan cheese for made with things like cashews and nutritional yeast.

You can make a complete clean Thanksgiving pretty easily - if you just think outside of the box (of butter). But don’t forget that it’s important to have a little balance so have a drink or a little cheese spread with your millet.

I am 90% sure everyone I know is sick right now. I hosted a party on Saturday and a significant number of people couldn’t make it because either 1) they were sick 2) their child was sick 3) their spouse was sick so only one person came to the party. Fall is like a perfect storm for getting sick; kids go back to school and get all the germs from all the people; the weather got really cold and really wet really fast; no one was prepared to whip out rain coats and warm sweaters just yet. So here we’re are. Everyone we know is sick.

The best way I have found to keep everyone healthy is with loads and loads of vitamins - in real ways like vegetables. This Ginger Carrot Soup is a great start. It’s packed with carrots for vitamins and ginger for an immunity boost. You can increase the ginger and garlic for even more of a boost or top this with cojita cheese! Swap out the vegetable broth for bone broth which means it’s no longer vegan, but the immunity boost just increased exponentially!

If you are vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, etc. this is also the soup for you!

GINGER CARROT SOUP

serves 4

STEP 1

Cook carrots and onion in olive oil until tender.

STEP 2

Add ginger, garlic & broth and bring to a boil.

STEP 3

Once carrots are fork tender, puree with an immersion blender or in a blender in batches.   Serve with cilantro and pepitas

3 lb carrots, chopped

2 tbs olive oil

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 inch ginger, peeled

2 cloves garlic

6 cups vegetable broth

salt and pepper

1 bunch cilantro

¼ cup pepitas

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Spring and strawberries go together like rhubarb and spring.  It's a natural combination.   This simple salad is a perfect accessory to a brunch or lunch.  Or, you can pack it as your "no sad desk lunch" lunch.  It's really good.  You've only got a day or so until the strawberries start to wilt so eat fast.  

It's the perfect Easter dish which is why I paired it with my lemon pepper salmon for a delicious clean eating Easter dinner.  When you're "eating clean" sometimes it feels like you're "eating boring" - this changes that.  At least with one recipe!

STRAWBERRY MINT QUINOA

serves 4

STEP 1

In a glass bowl, combine quinoa and water.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Microwave for five minutes until cooked through.  Add more time if needed.

STEP 2

Remove quinoa from the microwave, uncover, and fluff with a fork.  Let cool 10 minutes.

STEP 3

Toss quinoa with strawberries, mint, olive oil, and balsamic.  Taste and season with salt.  

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1 cup chopped strawberries

2 tablespoons chopped mint

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

salt

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When you're on Paleo or Whole 30 or Keto or AIP or really anything that's remotely restrictive, you are often bored with food or hungry.  I know. I've been there.  I'm still often there.  Due to my limited will power, I still often have cookies but I do try.  Mr. Hedin has epic will power and he doesn't eat dairy, wheat, refined sugar, or chocolate.  I couldn't live.  

But when we do dinner, I follow the rules.  No cheese, no breads, no sugary desserts.  When I hosted Easter, we had to do all of those rules + no eggs.  Which means salmon.  Also, my kids are really good 'pink fish' eaters.  So it's a win all the way around.

There's a thing with salmon.  Buy wild salmon that's responsibly harvested.  Please.  Atlantic farm salmon does not taste like salmon.  In many cases it's irresponsibly farmed and poses a threat to wild fish populations.  Please buy wild.  Purchase at a responsible vendor.  

LEMON PEPPER SALMON

serves 4

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place cleaned salmon on top.  

STEP 2

Spread asparagus around the salmon on the baking sheet.  Drizzle everything with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.  Top the salmon with lemon slices.

STEP 3

Place in a preheated oven and bake 10-15 minutes until the salmon is cooked through.  Test it by placing a fork in the middle and separating it slightly.  

STEP 4

Serve on a platter while still warm.

2 pounds wild salmon

1 lemon, sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt & pepper

1 large bunch asparagus

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